Village Board may bar former candidate

A former candidate for Carpentersville trustee who was arrested after a disturbance at this week's Village Board meeting may be banned from future meetings, officials said Wednesday.

Frank Stoneham, of the 300 block of Sedgewick Street, was charged with disorderly conduct after a man who had addressed the board Tuesday said Stoneham threatened him after his remarks (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Stoneham was released on a signature bond.

FOR THE RECORD - This story contains corrected material, published March 23, 2007.

"This guy has been getting worse and worse," said Village President Bill Sarto, who met with the police chief and village manager Wednesday to discuss the incident.

Sarto said he would attempt to obtain a court order barring Stoneham for up to a year. Stoneham is a regular at the meetings and addresses the board often.

Stoneham did not return calls Wednesday.

This isn't the first time the fiery Stoneham has been at odds with officials. Sarto ejected him from a Feb. 22 electoral board review when Stoneham used profanity and began shouting about objections to his nominating petitions. He was dropped from the April 17 ballot after the review found the petitions did not have enough valid signatures.

Sarto said Tuesday's incident also prompted security concerns. "You want the public to feel welcome at the meetings and yet you want people to feel safe," he said. "[Stoneham's] bad behavior has escalated."

The man who signed the complaint is a Carpentersville resident. After he sat down, Stoneham sat next to him and whispered in his ear.

The man told the board that Stoneham had threatened him and his wife and demanded Stoneham's arrest. Sarto told the man to talk to police and ordered him and Stoneham out of the meeting.

Stoneham approached the dais, shook papers at Sarto and called him a scumbag, then walked down the hallway to the Police Department where he was arrested.